Combatants Will Be Dispatched - Volume 1 - Chapter 5.7

7 

“Wait? Why are you leaving my favorite pillow? What’s with all your luggage anyway? Leave that behind and pack my pillow.” 

“Don’t be absurd. All my items have enormous value. Each of them could be traded for a mountain of ratty pillows like that one.” 

Alice and I pack our belongings and make preparations to leave the city. 

This kingdom is done for. 

Sure, I’d be lying if I said I had no regrets, but I gotta look out for number one. Besides, everyone I know here is strong. I’m sure they’ll all be fine. 

“Hey, Alice, what are we going to do with the assembled teleporter? We can’t use it yet, right?” 

“Technically, it’s already connected to Earth, but the teleport space is still unstable. Considering the distance between this planet and Earth, even the smallest misalignment could have catastrophic consequences. We were lucky to appear in the air. There’s no surviving being teleported to the bottom of the ocean, for example.” 

You know, the more I learn about the risks of teleportation, the more it seems like a miracle that I made it to this planet at all. 

“……Don’t worry. This planet’s teleport coordinates were calculated, then double- and triple-checked by the finest minds at Kisaragi. That’s why I was carrying a parachute. Typically, the hard part is the first teleport. So as long as I make it through in one piece, everything that comes afterward is merely a formality. It’s fine if we leave the teleporter here. Once we establish a new base of operations, we can just have Kisaragi send the parts for a new one.” 

“Don’t try to read my mind. I won’t be taken in by your pretty words! If you were telling the truth, then that means we could’ve been teleported much closer to the ground!” 

As we’re in the midst of preparing our escape, I hear knocking on the door accompanied by several voices. But we don’t have friends or acquaintances who would visit us at this house. Which means… 

“Damned kids! We don’t have time for this! I’m going to strip them and toss them in the girls’ bathroom!” 

I loudly stomp my way down the stairs and forcefully throw open the door—! 

“It’s been a while, Sir Six. I was hoping we might have a word.” 

Standing there, smiling and surrounded by a large retinue of soldiers, is my former employer, Princess Tillis. 

In Tillis’s personal chambers atop the royal castle… 

“I refuse.” 

After being dragged to the castle against my will, I only had one answer for Tillis. 

“…But…I haven’t even asked you anything yet…” 

Tillis looks up at me, thinning her lips in distress. 

Save it, princess. Nothing, not even those doe eyes, could sway me. 

I already heard from Snow. Just like Alice had already guessed, Tillis was, in fact, the de facto ruler of this kingdom. 

“I already know what you’re gonna ask me to do. You either want me to fight the Demon Lord’s Army, hold off the Demon Lord’s Army, or become your lover. Sorry, princess, but you’ll have to look elsewhere. I’ve already got my hands full.” 

“Um…perhaps your last example was a bit…” 

The soldiers had dispersed the moment we arrived at the castle. Which meant that the only occupants of this room were me, Alice, and Tillis. 

I remain alert. There’s no guarantee that Tillis isn’t preparing a trap at this very moment. 

“Sir Six, tell me, are you familiar with this object?” 

Tillis places a backpack on the table in front of me. 

Wait… 

“A parachute?” 

“Quiet, you idiot.” 

“So this object is called a parachute? Fascinating.” 

Tillis politely lets on that she noticed my slip of the tongue with a knowing smile and faint nod. 

Alice’s face contorts into a scowl as I stare blankly at the parachute. How the heck did it end up here? It was heavy as hell, and we didn’t have much use for it after we landed, so Alice just left it at the landing site. 

“On the day that a mysterious object was seen falling from the sky, our knights found this near the spot the object would have landed. I could not, for the life of me, figure out what it was for, but it appears you, Sir Six, even know what it is called.” 

Tillis says these words with a smile, but there’s a definite edge lurking beneath her tranquil expression. I do my best to suppress a shudder as the temperature in the room feels as though it’s dropped a few degrees. 

What’s she getting at? 

“Allow me to be blunt, Sir Six. You are a spy, an operative sent from another nation, are you not?” 

Straight to the point! A point aimed straight at my throat, no less! 

“I don’t really know what you’re talking about.” 

“I see. Then I’m afraid we have no choice but to torture you until you do.” 

“I’m sorry—I lied. I admit I’m a spy. Please forgive me.” 

“Well, that was fast! Tell me, Six, what was it like growing up without a spine?!” Alice snaps after I reveal my complete inability to offer any resistance. 

For whatever reason, Tillis doesn’t reprimand me and instead chuckles with faint amusement. 

“…Um, are you not going to arrest us?” I ask, suddenly worried at the mildness of Tillis’s reaction. 

“I wasn’t planning on it, no. I did, however, have one request for you.” 

Tillis then gazes intently at us, expression turning somber. 

“You mentioned that the two of you came from beyond the Darkwood, yes?” 

Technically, we came from beyond this planet, but she’s not wrong, so I nod. 

“You two appeared in this kingdom soon after the mysterious flying object was sighted. That means you two have some method of flying. Your story about coming from beyond the Darkwood gains credibility in that case.” 

Tillis looks at us with a faint look of triumph at her observation, and I don’t have the heart to tell her the hypothesis is wrong. Oblivious to my thoughts, Tillis gazes at us with a serious, somber expression. 

“This kingdom…in all likelihood will fall tomorrow. Once we’re gone, there will be nothing left to stop the Demon Army from digging their claws into the neighboring kingdoms. So I have a request for the two of you.” 

“I’m listening.” 

She meets my gaze directly. 

“The kingdom’s knights and soldiers… Their lives, their battles, their ends… Will you stand and bear witness to it all until the final countryman breathes his last? Then tell the people of your nation that there was once a kingdom called Grace. That the people of this kingdom stood and fought the Demon Lord’s Army until the bitter end. Then please use their example, their sacrifice, to call the other nations together to resist the Demon Lord… I have no great powers or magics of my own, Sir Six. With all my influence, the only thing I can do is ask that future generations remember my people.” 

Tillis pauses, catching her breath and straightening in her seat. 

“Please, I beg of you.” 

Before me, a nobody from who knows where, Princess Cristoseles Tillis Grace sets aside her royal status and bows her head deeply.